Three researchers from NOVA Medical School were recently awarded two Research Grants and the 2024 National Autoimmunity Prize, by the Autoimmune Disease Studies Center (NEDAI) of the Portuguese Society of Internal Medicine (SPMI) during the 10th National Congress of Autoimmunity / 29th NEDAI Meeting, held last June at the Centro Cultural de Belém.
The event themed “From bedside to bench, one size does not fit all!” brought together, in Lisbon, experts and researchers to discuss the latest developments in the diagnosis and treatment of autoimmune diseases, with a focus on autoinflammatory syndromes, systemic vasculitis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and inflammatory myopathies.
One of the highlights of the meeting was the presentation of three awards to researchers from the “Immune Response and Vascular Disease” research group at NOVA Medical School, led by José Delgado Alves, who is also director of the Internal Medicine Service IV at Fernando Fonseca Hospital and presided over the event.
The Basic Research Grant was awarded to João Serôdio, PhD student at NOVA Medical School for the project “Glycosylation of anti-myeloperoxidase antibodies as a potential early predictor of ANCA-associated vasculitis”. Mafalda Abrantes received the Clinical Studies Grant for the project “The role of antibodies to apolipoprotein A1 as predictors of cardiovascular events in autoimmune disease”, which is also part of the PhD programme at NOVA Medical School.
The NEDAI Prize in Autoimmunity 2024 was awarded to Marta Amaral, post-doctoral researcher for the work “Vascular memory as a predictive factor for endothelium function-associated conditions. Comparative study of 3 clinical models – Raynaud's disease, systemic sclerosis and diabetes mellitus”, conducted as part of her doctoral thesis.
According to SPMI, “these awards represent the largest investment in research in Portugal by a study group” of a medical society. For NOVA Medical School, it is yet another recognition of the impact of our School's research in areas that, “although less discussed, its pathophysiological knowledge and therapeutic options have seen extraordinary advances in recent years”, as explained by José Delgado Alves, principal investigator at NOVA Medical School and coordinator of NEDAI.